Introduction The Morrison Formation of western North America is one of the most well-studied geological formations within the world. These rock layers, which extend from Montana to New Mexico and from Utah to South Dakota, are dated to the late… Read More ›
Introduction For paleontologists, determining whether fossils belong to an animal which is already known or if they belong to a hitherto undiscovered species can be a bit tricky, especially if the animal is only known from incomplete remains. Suppose you… Read More ›
Plesiosuchus was a 20 foot long marine crocodylomorph which lived in the tropical sea which once covered Europe during the late Jurassic Period 155-150 million years ago. In the 1860s, fragmentary fossils were discovered in Dorset, England by a local… Read More ›
Xenacanthus, meaning “strange spine”, was a 3 foot long shark-like freshwater fish which lived in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia from the second half of the Carboniferous Period to the end of the Permian Period, approximately 323-251 million… Read More ›
Ornitholestes, “the bird thief”, was a small meat-eating dinosaur which lived in western North America during the late Jurassic Period about 154 million years ago. Since its discovery in the year 1900, Ornitholestes has come to be regarded as the… Read More ›
Caypullisaurus was a 20 foot long ichthyosaur which lived off the coast of Argentina (and possibly elsewhere) during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous Periods 150-140 million years ago. In 1989, the front half of a skeleton of a medium-sized… Read More ›
Muraenosaurus, “the moray eel lizard”, was a medium-sized plesiosaur which lived in the sea which once covered southern England and northern France during the middle of the Jurassic Period 165-164 million years ago. In the 19th Century, a partial skeleton… Read More ›
Kronosaurus was a massive marine reptile called a pliosaur which lived in the waters around northeastern Australia during the middle Cretaceous Period circa 105-100 million years ago. The fossils of this animal were discovered in 1899 in Queensland, Australia, consisting… Read More ›
Shonisaurus was an absolutely gargantuan ichthyosaur which swam off North America’s Pacific coast during the middle of the Triassic Period 227 million years ago. Shonisaurus was one of the largest ichthyosaurs to have existed, measuring 45 feet long. Only a… Read More ›
Kayentatherium, “the beast from the Kayenta Formation”, was a cynodont (one of a group of mammal ancestors which are sometimes called “mammal-like reptiles”) which lived in Arizona during the early Jurassic Period approximately 185-180 million years ago. Kanyentatherium was big,… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 